Skinceuticals by Project Skin MD

Creating the Feeling of Beauty

A fresh new location of the beloved Vancouver-based dermatology clinic, Project Skin MD, has opened in Richmond Centre to showcase their SkinCeuticals product line and skin treatment services.

While still offering some full-service treatments in their specialized treatment rooms, the intent was to have the Richmond storefront be an experience-based, retail-oriented space.

Our goal was to help them create a space that would be both inviting and reflect the brand vision of helping their clients feel confident, inspired and ready to take on the world.

With that in mind, we approached the store design concept of beauty as a feeling–something people sense and feel in their surroundings the moment they walk through the luxurious solid walnut doors and encounter the waterfalling, black marble and brass central island.

Since educating clients about the health and beauty of their skin is such a large part of what the Project Skin team does, the space is designed for thoughtful interaction at every turn.

Customers are offered warm tea to sip as they make their way through the store and encouraged to take their time testing out the different products or selecting whichever express facial peel is right for them.

“In designing a space that would make people feel comfortable, positive and confident, we paid particular attention to lighting and fixtures that best capture and convey natural beauty.”

Translucent tubes, suspended from above, represent the purity of clear skin as well as communicate the clinical aspects of the SkinCeuticals scientifically-backed formulas with the token symbolic laboratory vials and beakers throughout the displays. Black walls with trimless doors and black hardware in the back half of the space create a clean lined and serene atmosphere for clients to retreat to for services.

It’s the small moments and details that work together to create a larger piece that conveys the overall feeling of beauty when you walk in. Whenever someone looks in a mirror we want them to glow.

The vertical vinyl line of the SkinCeuticals hexagon flanks the entry in a way that catches the natural light from the glass-roofed atrium of the mall, subtly imitating the gleam of fresh, glistening skin. While, “Get your glow on” shines in neon on the feature wall, emphasizing the Project Skin mantra and feature point of the space.

The primary goals of SkinCeuticals and Project Skin’s services are: Cleanse, Prevent, Protect and Correct. We matched the same delineation in the materials and finishings of the physical layout.

3D signage is displayed on the lit perimeter shelving to categorize the products into the four pillars of the brand. Two recessed TV screens, with custom looping media, offer further interactive product education for each category and the ‘mini-must haves’ bar, situated next to the cash desk, are merchandised within the brands four groups, allowing customers to easily grasp what each product is designed to do when filling their jewelry tray with a-lá carte items.

“Ultimately, Project Skin is all about aging gracefully and we wanted to provide a storefront that would hold up in an equally timeless way.”

From the slab of marble in the centre island to the solid walnut doors that mark the entryway, the materials we chose for the space are classic. The impressions people leave on them over time will be a testament to their functionality, never a lack or loss of their luster. In fact, the unique qualities of the wood and stone are not unlike that of skin. While they may be smoothed and refined, the true beauty of these materials is in their natural irregularities, textures and grains that will only get better with age.